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Term-limits for judges a no-go

Measure would have restricted them to 10 years of service

Jim Erickson And Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 8, 2006 at midnight

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A ballot initiative that would have limited state Supreme Court justices and appellate court judges to 10 years in office was soundly defeated, and a leading opponent said voters "saw through all the illogic of the arguments."

Amendment 40 would have overhauled the state Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals in January 2009. Five of the seven existing Supreme Court justices and seven of the 19 judges on the state appellate court would have been replaced.

"To simply put a clock in place of judicial performance doesn't accomplish anything," said John Moye, former president of the Colorado Bar Association and a co-chairman of Vote No 40. "The voters realized that it was not anything that would be effective in our government."

Supporters said term limits would hold judges more accountable and would also ensure that "activist judges" don't serve for life.

Former state Senate President John Andrews, chairman of Limit the Judges, vowed that "we will be back on the 2008 ballot with another term-limit proposal."

"In this case, we reached a little too far in making the amendment applicable to current as well as future judges," Andrews said. "That furnished the other side, with its huge financial advantage, with a scare scenario they were able to get across to the voters."

Opponents enjoyed widespread support throughout the campaign from a long list of politicians, lawyers and business groups. The Colorado Bar Association spent more than $500,000 in an attempt to defeat the measure - roughly half of the more than $1 million raised.

Early on, a bipartisan group of former governors, including Democrat Roy Romer, joined Republican Gov. Bill Owens in opposing Amendment 40. Other anti-40 groups ranged from the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce to the Colorado Farm Bureau, Qwest and Quiznos.

Throughout the campaign, Andrews pointed to a handful of court rulings that he said cried out for judicial reform.

One was the state Supreme Court decision in June blocking a ballot measure asking voters to deny many services to illegal immigrants. Another was the 2004 Supreme Court ruling that a school voucher system was unconstitutional.

Andrews also argued that if the governor and the state legislature have term limits, the judicial branch should as well.

Almost all the money received by the Limit the Judges campaign came from a nonprofit group, Colorado At Its Best, that is not required to identify its donors. The leader of Colorado At Its Best, Dennis Polhill, and Andrews both said donors wanted to remain anonymous because they were afraid they might appear someday before judges who would retaliate against them.

State Supreme Court justices and appellate court judges are appointed by the governor from a group of nominees selected by a bipartisan nominating committee.

Currently, justices and judges stand for retention in elections after an approximately two-year probationary period, then again every 10 years for Supreme Court justices and every eight years for Court of Appeals judges. They may serve unlimited terms until age 72.

Under Amendment 40, judges and justices would have stood for retention after the two-year probationary period, then every four years until they hit a maximum of 10 years.

Amendment 40

Would have limited state appellate judges to 10 years on the bench

Winners:

• Colorado Bar Association: Donated more than $500,000 to defeat the measure - about half of the $1 million raised.

• Supreme Court justices who would be removed in January 2009 if voters approve the initiative: Michael L. Bender, Gregory J. Hobbs Jr., Alex J. Martinez, Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey and Nancy E. Rice.

• Colorado Court of Appeals judges who would be removed: James S. Casebolt, Janice B. Davidson, José D. L. Márquez, Sandra I. Rothenberg, Arthur P. Roy, Daniel M. Taubman and JoAnn L. Vogt.

Losers:

• John Andrews: The former state Senate president led the Limit the Judges campaign.

• Colorado At Its Best: The Golden-based nonprofit and its secret donors funded almost the entire Limit the Judges campaign, contributing some $800,000.